A World Premiere Performance 165 Years in the Making!

An excellent evening's entertainment by Charles Robert Thatcher (1831-1878)

Matilda Wilby (Soprano) – The Servant Girl
Peter Hunt (Baritone)
Peter Butler (Piano)

Directed by Merlyn Quaife AM
Proudly Presented by Langley Estate & Bendigo Fine Music
With GENEROUS SUPPORT FROM THE PETER RYALL TRUST

Hidden away in the State Library of Victoria is the text of a little burlesque: a ‘Duologue’ titled ‘The Operatic Servant Gal’, dated August 1861 and written by Charles Robert Thatcher (1831-1878), a British entertainer who arrived at the Bendigo Goldfields in 1852.Described as a large, genial man, the ‘inimitable Thatcher’ established a reputation as an immensely popular entertainer and writer of topical ballads, a flautist and a singer.